Talk:Girl Meets Bear/@comment-26999065-20160829034208
Near as we can tell, the last thing Riley said to Barry the Bear Bear was actually, "I love you, Barry." Then she put him down a moment later at her feet, curled up under the covers, and went to sleep next to Maya. It was not, "I wish you were a Slinky." UNLESS . . . During the night, half asleep, half dreaming - maybe dreaming of fractions, but probably dreaming of something else - Riley sleepily opened her window to gaze at the stars and wish upon them (as she is want to do) and Barry was a little in the way. Realizing this, and wanting to lay flat on the fire escape, Riley wished he'd move out of her way. But Barry rarely does what he's told or walks on his own. Toys just don't walk on their own. Well, most toys don't. A Slinky might. But Barry was not like a Slinky, after all. If he were, he could walk down the fire escape and out of Riley's way all on his own. That's what Riley thought at that sleepy moment, and it made perfect sense at that moment, as dreams often do, but when half asleep, people think all kinds of crazy things. Still . . . "I wish you were a Slinky," Riley half whispered to Barry, and then she put him near the top of the stairs in her semi-conscience state, where he might, just like a Slinky, walk down them and out of Riley's way. Now with Barry out of the way, Riley laid back half out the window without any uncomfortable bear sized lump under her back, looked up at the stars, and made her wish. Minutes later, half forgetting Barry, she closed the window and curled up under the covers again and went fully back to sleep and continued dreaming. But the wind in the night is not still, and though Barry was only near the top of the stairs of the fire escape, he was close enough. Then, not unlike a Slinky, he walked down the stairs. O.K. Be fair. He fell. More tumbled, really. Not just a little ways, either, but all the way to the alley below. A few hours later, as he often does, Reggie - a local neighborhood stray dog on the prowl - came along, sniffed Barry, and thought he smelled interesting enough to pick up and take away with him back to his home. The next day, though Barry was half forgotten, he was also half remembered, like a dream where the details are unclear and fuzzy, and it dances just on the verge of full forgetfulness. When Riley had said it, she couldn't recall with clarity, but she did remember the last thing she told Barry the Bear Bear. ''"I wish you were a Slinky." ''She had forgotten everything else about that moment, but she remembered that. That Riley had opened the window, put Barry outside, or even that she wished upon a star (probably for love or peace or bunnies or Pluto or happiness) she couldn't tell you. She doesn't remember. And exactly when she had wished for Barry to be a Slinky was fuzzy. But clearly, it was the last connection she recalled, and the last thing she remembered saying to him. And it wasn't the nicest thing to wish upon her beloved childhood toy, and not the best parting words for such a faithful companion. So there were some regrets. Some. Maybe, one day, while walking around in the neighborhood, Riley will come across Reggie’s stash of interesting items that he keeps where he sleeps and she'll find Barry again. Or maybe not. But like Cory said, it's not really the actual toy or item that matters, but the memories surrounding it, and as long as Riley remembers Barry the Bear Bear, he'll always be with her and she'll always be happy. Now, her happiness transcends the physical need for the toy bear to be in her hands to be happy, and more grown up, she carries the happiness with her, free of the worry of where Barry is anymore, or having to carry him around like a child. So, Riley is free of the chore, but not the feeling, free of the physical burden, but not the emotional truth. She is growing up, and she's happy. Maybe when she wished upon that star, she got her wish, after all.